One key role of public company Boards is to ensure there's a sucession plan in place for key executives. Management prepares these plans in writing, updates them at least annually and submits them to the Board for approval. One of the Board committees is usually respsonble for appointing the CEO, determining his or her compensation, etc. In the unfortunate event of a CEO's absence, someone internally needs to be ready to fill his or her shoes, or the Board could decide to recruit externally.
Succession planning is likely a very high priority at Apple given Steve Jobs' very high profile with the street (Wall Street analysts, that is), mutual funds who hold Apple stock, individual investors, Mac users, tech writers and just about everyone else who follows the Company. Really, how many CEO's can you name, or identify from a photo? Few, I'd wager, but Jobs is definitely one of them.
Given the impact that Jobs has on the Company by virtue of his CEO status, plus his huge persona and influence in the tech world, anything that could impair his ability to serve matters greatly to people, particularly the SEC, which is under increased pressure to regulate public company disclosures.
Company management and their Boards do sweat the details of the wording used in press releases. Press releases are likewise scrutinized by the SEC for anything from non-disclosure of key matters that may imact investor judgements about a stock to unclear wording, to misleading wording, to outsight lies. There will likely be phone calls or meetings with the SEC to discuss the details surrounding Apple's press releases. If Apple is able to satisfy the regulators that their disclosures were based on the best information avialable to the Company at that time, and that there was no intent to mislead investors, the heat may be off. If management is unable to convince the SEC of this, the whole matter may drag on.
Here's wishing Steve Jobs a swift recovery and the personal space to do so.
Comments
Succession planning is likely a very high priority at Apple given Steve Jobs' very high profile with the street (Wall Street analysts, that is), mutual funds who hold Apple stock, individual investors, Mac users, tech writers and just about everyone else who follows the Company. Really, how many CEO's can you name, or identify from a photo? Few, I'd wager, but Jobs is definitely one of them.
Given the impact that Jobs has on the Company by virtue of his CEO status, plus his huge persona and influence in the tech world, anything that could impair his ability to serve matters greatly to people, particularly the SEC, which is under increased pressure to regulate public company disclosures.
Company management and their Boards do sweat the details of the wording used in press releases. Press releases are likewise scrutinized by the SEC for anything from non-disclosure of key matters that may imact investor judgements about a stock to unclear wording, to misleading wording, to outsight lies. There will likely be phone calls or meetings with the SEC to discuss the details surrounding Apple's press releases. If Apple is able to satisfy the regulators that their disclosures were based on the best information avialable to the Company at that time, and that there was no intent to mislead investors, the heat may be off. If management is unable to convince the SEC of this, the whole matter may drag on.
Here's wishing Steve Jobs a swift recovery and the personal space to do so.